Telltale switch



Jan. 5 1926.

W. P. SENG TELLTALE SWITCH Filed April 24, 1920 LVVENTOR. WEndcZinP SangBY TTORNE Y.

Patented Jan. 5, 1926.

UNITED STATES WENDELIN I. SENG, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TELLTALE SWITCH.

Application filed April 24, 1920. Serial No. 376,378.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WVENDELIN P. SENG, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and usefullmprovements in a Telltale Switch, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a switch for auto mobiles and the like, whichis designed and intended to control a selective rear or other signal,and to indicate to the driver or operator the selection that has beenmade. The principal object of the invention is to provide a new andimproved switch of this kind which is conveniently placed adjacent the-grip of the steering wheel where it is easily operable withoutremovingthe-hand therefrom and so that the indicating signal of the switch is inclear view of the driver and easily observable. Another object of theinvention is to provide a switch having a single operating part whichmay be conveniently moved to a plurality of controlling positions. Otherobjects will appear hereinafter. The novelty consists in theconstruction, combination and arrangement of the several parts.

In the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 IS a view in elevation showing thisswitch applied to the steering wheel of an automobile; Fig. 2 is a topview of a portion of the switch only; Fig. 3 is a sectional view; Fig. 4shows the inner end of the removable plug; Fig. 5 is a view of the outerend of the plug; Fig. 6 is a development of the transparent material;Fig.- 7 is a view showing the contacts inside of the switch housing;Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the connections from a switchof this kind to a selective signal system for which it 1s designed andintended; Fig. 9 is a sectional detail showing. the lighting openingsfor the transparent material; and Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic view similarto Fig. 8 showing four contacts instead of five.

In this invention a visible indicator is provided in the switch housingadjacent the steering wheel for each change in position of the switch,to indicate unmistakablv to the operator that a certain signal has beengiven at another point, as for example, at the rear of the automobile.If the signal is not given,

- the indicator will not be lighted, which will In the preferredconstruction of this switch, a tubular switch housing 10 is attachableby means of a suitable band or strap 11 to a post 12 of a steering wheel13. The housing is formed with a window or opening 14 at the topthereofwhich is clearly visible from the top through the steering wheel, andthe switch has an operating arm 15 with a knob 16 at the end arrangedclose to the underside of the rim of wheel 13, so that it is within easyreach of the fingers of one hand of the operator or driver to be movedin either direction without taking this hand from the wheel.

A cap 17 is provided for the open end of the housing 10, and a bayonetjoint connection is provided therefor which comprises pins 18 and slots19. One side of the cap is formed with an opening 20 which communicateswith a slot 21 extending in both directions therefrom so that theoperating arm 15 of the switch can be rotated when the cap is inposition over the end of the housing without moving the cap, the opening20 beso ing provided for positioning the cap with respect to theoperating arm.

WVithin the housing a block 22 of insulating material is fixed theretoin which are a plurality of recesses 23 which are each 5 adapted tocontain a spring 24 which surrounds a contact pin 25 extending throughthe insulating block 22 and also through a covering plate 26 which isalso formed of insulating material. The contact pins fit slidably in theblock 22 and plate 26 and each of them is provided with a shoulder orwasher' 27 against which one end of the spring 24 is adapted to bear,tending to press the contact pin so that it protrudes beyond 5 the outerfaoe of the cover plate 26. At the center of the block 22 is a contactshell 28 for a miniature electric lamp 29, which is held in place bymeans of a screw 30. .Qonnected to the shell 28 is a contact wire 31,and extending from the center thereof is. another contact wire 32 forcontrolling the circuit of the lamp 29.

Attached to the controlling arm 15 is a plug 33 of insulating materialwhich is insortable in theopen end of the housing 10, and has a centralrecess 34 which fits over the miniature lamp 29. The arm 15 preferablyextends across the entire face of the plug and may be formed with acentral aper- I10 ture 35 so that a bearing pin 36 attached to the innerside of the cap 17 may extend into contact plate.

the aperture and form a bearing for this end of the plug upon which theplug may be turned.

At the opposite end of the plug 33 is a contact plate 37 which has acontact portion 38 at one side connected to an opposite contact point39, by means of rims 40. This contact plate is set into the surface ofthe plug 33 so that the portions 41 thereof (see Fig. 4), stand out fromthe remainder of the plug flush with the outer surface of the Thecontact portion 38 is preferably formed with a central depression orrecess 42 and opposite corresponding recesses 43 and 44, each of whichis adapted to receive the rounded end 25 of one of the contact pins 25,and to maintain the switch either in a central position when the end 25'engages the recess 42 and in a position at either side thereof when theplug 33 is moved so that the end 25 engages therein recess 33 or 34. Theother contact pins 25 instead of being rounded at the ends, arepreferably fiat so that they bear upon the surfaces 41 of the plug 33 orupon the contact plate. There are four other contact making pins 25 inaddition to the one with the rounded tip, arranged as shown in Fig. 7,and as indicated in Fig. 8, so that they will engage the contact plate37 only at certain times. For convenience, these contact pins aredesignated as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, by letters B, S, R, and L, andwhen the movable plug 33 is in this central or neutral position, it willbe observed by reference to Fig. 8 that no contact is made by them withthe contact plate 37., The other pin 25, however, does make connectionwith the contact plate 37 at all times.

Intermediatethe ends of the plug 33 it isformed with radiating openings45 separated by a partition 46, the peripheral edge of which is aboutthe width of the window 14 in the housing 10. Covering these openings 45is a thin piece of material 47 a portion of Which may be madetransparent so that the light from the lamp may be observed through itand through thewindow 14 when the plug is turned to the proper position.i This material 47 is marked, as shown in Fig. 6, to indicatecorresponding positions of the plug 33 and of the contact making pins.

' In operation it will be seen, by reference to Fig. 8, that themovement of the plug 33 to the first position on either side of thecentral or neutral position will cause the contact pin 25 to engage inthe stop recess 43 or 44 and will cause the contact point 39 to beengaged by the corresponding contact pin S or R. The'plug 33 may also berotated a further amount in either direction, butit is limited by theengagement of the arm 15 with the corresponding end of the slot 21. Inthis case, however, the contacts L and B will be engaged by the adjacentends 48 and 49 respectively of the contact portion 37. In any case, theplug 33 will be rotated to such position that the contact which is madeby the contact pins and the plate 37 will be properly indicated throughthe opening 14 in the housing. and if the proper circuit connection ismade, the lamp 29 will be lighted;

Of course, after the proper circuit connections have once been made, theoperator will know that something is wrong if the light does not appearthrough the housing window 14, as soon as the switch is turned to anyposition except neutral.

As indicated in Fig. 8, the lamp 29 is connected in series with uppercontact 25 and battery 50 when a circuit is closed through any one ofthe other contacts B, S, R, or L. As these contacts are arranged, themovement of the switch plug 33 in either direction from its centralposition will cause the contact point 39 to be brought into en gagementwith contact pin S or R; a further movement in the same direction willcause the contact L or B respectively to engage with the contact portion48 or 49 of the contact plate 37. In circuit with the battery 50 is anelectric responsive device 51 such as a motor which is energized throughone of the contacts as S, and a different circuit is closed through thelamp 29, the battery 50, device 51, and one of the electroresponsivedevices 52, 53 and 54 when the contacts R, L, and B are respectivelyengaged. From this it is obvious that a switch of this kind may be usedfor closing a number of different connections for different signallingdevices, and the connections shown in Fig. 8 particularly adapt thisswitch to be used'in connection with a vehicle signal, such as thatshown by Patent No. 1,080,589 of December 9th, 1913, granted to I). B.and G. E. Roedding for vehicle signal.

A modification of this switch, or at least the contact part of it, isshown in Fig. 10, in which the contact plate 38' is provided with twoprojecting tongues 55 and 56 instead of the single tongue 39, and asingle contact M is provided in place of the two contacts S and R asindicated in Fig. 8. The contacts 13 and L are also arranged so thatthey make contact respectively with the corresponding portion of thecontact plate 37 at the time contact M engages with tongues 55 or 56.Upon the further movement of the contact plug 33 in either directionfrom its first position. the contact M slides from the tongue 56 or 55leaving only the contact L or B in connection with the plate 37. Withthis arrangement an electromagnet 60 is energized each time a circuit isclosed through the contact M, and one of the directional electromagnets58 or 59 is closed through contact B or L. As soon as the switch plug 33is moved to the limiting position in either direction, as indicated bydotted lines a and b, the contact M ceases to make connection with thecontact plate 37 leaving only. the directional magnet 58 or 59 incircuit. In this case the electromagnet- 60 is a stop magnet whichpermits the mechanism controlled by the directional magnets 58 or 59 tocontinue operation in the selected direction when the magnet 60 isdeenergized.

The magnet connections shown in Figs. 8 and 10, simply illustratetheapplication of the switch, and other variations may be made in thecircuit connect-ions without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention. The controlling arm 15 may be moved to any one of the severalpositions, where it will remain until manually moved to some otherposition. The arm may be moved from one position to any other withoutstopping at the neutral position. The switch plug 33 and the contactplate 37 may be easily removed at any time by simply disengaging the cap17 from its bayonet connection, and drawing the plug 33 outwardly. Thecontact pins will not be disarranged, the lamp 29 will remain inposition or may be easily removed, and in returning the plug 33, theoperation is simply reversed, and all the parts are in their properposition for immediate operation.

I claim:

1. In a switch, a housing, a member fixed therein, with spring pressedcontact makers projecting from the face thereof, a switch member movabletherein, means for operating the movable member, and a cap removablyconnected with the housing having a bearing projection which engages theouter end of the said movable member and presses the opposite endthereof against the spring pressed contact members, when the cap isattached to the housing.

2. In a switch, a housing, a pair of switch members, one fixed and theother movable therein, spring pressed contact means at the adjacent endsof the members, an arm for operating the movable member, a cap having aremovable connection with the end of the housing with a slot therein topermit the movement of the arm, and with a bearing pin at its end toengage the central portion of the outer end of the said movable member,and thereby to hold the two members in engagement, when the cap is onthe housing, and to permit the removal of the movable member and its armwith the cap when the latter is removed from the housing.

3. In a switch of the class described, a plurality of spring pressedcontacts, and a rotatable contact member having a contact portion withwhich one of the spring pressed contacts is in engagement at allpositions of the movable member, and an opposite contacting projectionwhich is moyed into engagementwith certain of the spring pressedcontacts when, the contact member is moved a predetermined distance ineither direction from its central position, the other contacts being soarranged that upon a predetermined movement of the movable member ineither direction, one of them engages the first named contact portion.

4. In a switch of the class described, a plurality of spring pressedcontacts, and a rotatable member having a contact plate at one endthereof with a long contact portion and an opposite shorter contactportion connected by a rim of conducting material, the member being cutaway to receive the plate so that the end of the member is flush withthe face of the plate, all but one of the spring pressed contactsnormally engaging the end of the movable member, and engaging with thesaid contacting portions depending upon the direction of movement of thesaid movable member from a central position.

5. In a switch of the class described, a plurality of spring pressedcontacts, and a rotatably movable contact member, having a contact platewhich is continuously engaged by one of the spring pressed contacts, andan opposite connected contact member which is movable when the member isrotated in either direction from its posit-ion into engagement withcertain of the contacts, and two other contacts of which one is engagedby the first named contacting portion when the member is. moved apredetermined amount from its central position in either direction.

6. In a switch, the combination with a relatively fixed insulatingmember and spring pressed contacts projecting from the face thereof, ofan electric lamp also protruding beyond the said face, and a movablecontact member having a recess in which the lamp is insertable, and withWindow openings extending from the recess to the periphery of themember, a transparent piece of material covering the openings, and acontact member at the end of the movable member adapted to be engaged bythe spring pressed contacts and by such connection to close a circuitthrough the lamp for each different position in which the movable memberis set.

7. In a switch, a fixed housing having a window aperture at one sidethereof, an

insulating block fixed in the housing, a plurality of spring pressedcontacts protruding from the face of the block, an electric lamp alsoextending beyond the face of the block, a movable member insertable inthe housing having a recess in which the lamp is received, and withradiating openings from the said recess tothe periphery thereof, acontact plate at the inner end of the blockadapted to make difl'erentconnections with the spring pressed contacts when the removable memberis rotated, transparent material covering the radiating openingsopposite the window in the housing, means for rotating the movablemember, and a removable cap for pressing the contact plate and theremovable plug member against the spring pressed contacts.

8. In a switch, a pair of members, one fixed and the other relativelyrotatable, a plurality of spring pressed contacts protruding from thefixed member, a contact plate carried by the movable member adapted tobe engaged by the spring pressed contacts, one of the contacts having arounded end, and the contact plate being provided with a plurality ofrounded depressions for engaging the rounded contact end and for holdingthe movable member in a plurality of predetermined positions, incombination.

with a. housing having a removable cap for normal pressing the movablemember and the contact plate against the spring pressed contacts, and anoperating member extending through an opening in the cap and permittingthe rotation of the movable member therein.

9. In a switch, a pair of members, one

I fixed and the other relatively movable, a

spring pressed contacts, the other contacts being engaged by the contactplate upon the relative movement of the members, an electric lampcarried by one of the members and enclosed between them, the movablemember having a recess for receiving the lamp and radiating openingstherefrom covered by transparent indicating material, the lamp being inseries With the continuously engaged contact so that whenever one of theother contacts is engaged by the contact plate, the member will belighted in accordance with the different positions thereby and this maybe observed through the indicating transparent material.

WENDELIN P. SENG.

